On Friday 8 February the world celebrated the 108th International Women’s Day and Norfolk came out in support for this globally recognised day. In partnership with NatWest, and with the support of Community Sports Foundation, Grant Thornton UK LLP and Vattenfall, we held our first International Women’s Day celebration event. Taking place at The Nest, we welcomed over 100 business women and men, as well as young students from local schools to hear from some of Norfolk’s inspirational women. Speaking on the ground-breaking work taking place to drive change for women we welcomed Kelly Saddleton of Community Sports Foundation, Bethan Gill of Grant Thornton UK LLP, Dr Catrin Ellis Jones of Vattenfall and Fiona Ryder, Managing Director, TCD Media and President of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce. Each guest speaker took to the stage to share their stories and then came together for some audience Q&A. The reinforced message throughout was all about encouraging women around us to ask and to be proud of their achievements. Female empowerment was definitely felt throughout the room when the session began coming to its close and many audience members stood up to share some of their achievements. International Women’s Day is all about building a gender balanced world where everyone has a part to play. During her talk, Fiona highlighted the fact that ‘Balance for Better’ is not just a women’s issue, but a business issue, which spoke volumes to our audience today. There’s still a long way to go, but by supporting women in our workplaces, by encouraging them to be the best they can, we can continue to create a gender balanced world. Norfolk Chambers of Commerce is an organisation made up of 13 people, 11 of those are women who all work exceptionally hard to support Norfolk’s business community. We are proud of the women in our workforce and we hope other businesses out there are celebrating this special day!
